A DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OVERVIEW OF FORCE TRANSFORMATION

In this second lecture, Mr. Terry Pudas, Former Special Assistant for Force Transformation to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict and Independent Capabilities (ASD SO/LIC & IC), will speak to us about Defense Transformation from the perspective of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).

The concept of transformation evolved from research done in the mid-to-late ‘90s which focused on what was then called the revolution in military affairs (RMA). The work examined episodic events in history where the combination of new technologies, operational and organizational constructs created overwhelming competitive advantage for militaries. In the late ‘90s the term transformation began to be used to describe a deliberate process to promote and catalyze continuous innovation and creativity as a strategy for maintaining competitive advantage. The aim was to create an organizational culture built on the concept of transformation as one of its core values/competencies.

US forces have been undergoing the current cycle of transformation since the 1990s, when a confluence of three factors – a dramatically changed security environment, rapid advances in information technologies, and experience with more agile and responsive organizational concepts – presented DoD with new imperatives and new opportunities. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld accelerated the process in the spring of 2001. A key decision was to establish an Office of Force Transformation (OFT). He deliberately set this office apart from the DoD bureaucracy and stipulated that it report directly to him. The mission of the Office was to serve as a focal point and catalyst for transformation across the Department. The Office developed five overarching goals.

• Make force transformation an integral element of national defense strategy and DoD corporate strategy effectively supporting the four strategic pillars of national military strategy.
• Change the force and its culture from the bottom up through the use of experimentation, transformational articles (operational prototyping), and the creation and sharing of new knowledge and experiences.
• Implement Network Centric Warfare (NCW) as the theory of war for the information age and the organizing principle for the national military planning and joint concepts, capabilities and systems.
• Get the decision rules and metrics right and cause them to be applied enterprise wide.
• Discover, create or cause to be created new military capabilities to broaden the capabilities baes and to mitigate risk.

In December 2006 Secretary Gates’ responses to pre-confirmation questions affirmed his commitment to transformation.

Question: What broad priorities would you establish, if confirmed, with respect to issues which must be addressed by DoD?

Answer: “The Department’s current priorities appear to cover three areas: 1) Iraq and winning the long war against violent extremism; 2) supporting the Department’s military and civilian personnel; and 3) continuing the transformation of the U.S. military for 21st-century challenges.”

Question: If confirmed, what would you plan to do to ensure that the transformation goals are achieved?

Answer: “If confirmed, I will build upon the President’s commitment to transform our forces to better fit the 21st century. Transformation holds the promise to ensure that our military forces are more agile and lethal when confronting the enemies of this century.”

In October, 2006, as part of the Secretary’s restructuring of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) (OUSD(P)), OFT and its functions were realigned within USD (P) and the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (USD (AT&L)). Its current mission is to continue its role as a catalyst, help to create the strategic-level Force Development Guidance, and focus on the implementation of the Department’s transformation goals.

Transformation should be pursued with joint forces and operations firmly in mind. A central reality, nonetheless, is that most transformational activities will be carried out by the military Services, which will be responding to their own visions and priorities. In this setting, achieving joint transformation continues to be a significant challenge. A key to success will be to articulate explicitly those goals, investment policies, and technological priorities that are central to joint transformation, but might not otherwise be pursued if transformation efforts are left to the Services’ own devices.

Mr. Pudas will address these goals of transformation and will be ready to engage in a broad and open discussion with us.

Objectives

1. Understand the fundamental concepts of transformation, as well as the goals and strategic drivers guiding DoD’s force transformation initiatives.
2. Understand methodologies for implementing large scale change and the role of senior leadership.
3. Gain a perspective of progress to date and future initiatives.
   

Issues for Discussion

1. Is the conceptual framework developed by OSD appropriate to emerging security challenges? Is it adaptable enough to respond to surprises?
2. Will a shift away from Service-centric transformation be needed to achieve improved joint capabilities?
3. To what degree do DoD’s existing processes and mechanisms promote or impede joint force transformation?
4. Are DoD and the Services currently pursuing the new technologies, weapons, organizations, and programs that will be critical to joint transformation?
5. What future force structure/organizational options should DoD consider?
   

Required Reading

Pudas, Terry. “Disruptive Challenges and Accelerating Force Transformation,” Joint Forces Quarterly, 3rd Quarter 2006. (pp. 43-50) Summarizes transformational issues from the 2006 QDR and the importance of increasing learning rates within DoD.

Henry, Ryan. “Defense Transformation and the 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review,” Parameters, Winter 2005-06. (pp 5-15) This article summarizes the arguments that shaped the 2005 QDR (which was completed in Feb 2006)

Department of Defense, Transformation Planning Guidance, April 2003. (SecDef letter and pp 3-9, scan rest) SecDef’s guidance for transformation, including the rationale, scope and strategy.

Office of Force Transformation. Military Transformation: A Strategic Approach November 2003. VADM Cebrowski’s summary of the Department’s Transformation vision and implementation plans. Highlighted sections include an overview and summarize the basic principles of network-centric operations.

Defense Science Board, Transformation: A Progress Assessment, Volume II, April 2006. (pp. 117-134) Reviews progress in Joint Concept Development and Experimentation (JCD&E) and DoD efforts to anticipate and counter disruptive threats.

Transformation Planning Guidance. April 2003.

Supplemental Reading

Pudas, Terry “A new Strategic Construct for Defense Planning.” Federal Times. May 14, 2007. 2 pp. Introduces the “Trends and Shocks” approach.

Macgregor, Douglas A. “Transforming Jointly.” Transforming America’s Military. ed. Hans Binnendijk. National Defense University Press. 2001. pp. 219-229.

Myers, Richard B. “ Understanding Transformation.” Proceedings. February 2003. p. 38. (PROQUEST)

Remarks by Admiral Edmund P. Giambastiani. “Applying Lessons Learned About Joint Operations Transformation,” AFCEA West “Born Joint?” Conference, February 4, 2004.

Cebrowski, Arthur K. “Network-Centric Warfare: Its Origins and Future.” Proceedings. U.S. Naval Institute. January 1998. pp. 28-35 (PROQUEST)

Gehman, Harold and James Dubik.” Military Transformation and Joint Experimentation: Two Views from Above.” Defense Horizons #46. Center for Technology and National Security Policy. December 2004.